(Photo courtesy of the NY Times - I was standing right behind the statue there!)Well, today was a great day. I watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama at Columbia University's campus. President Obama graduated from Columbia, so there was a lot of pride and excitement.
The fact that people felt united about something positive was refreshing. It seems in the last few years, our uniting moments have been in tragedy. The excitement and hope was invigorating today. When moments like that occur, they inevitably fade, but it is important to seize them and enjoy them while you are in them. I WILL NEVER FORGET TODAY!
Thousands gathered in front of the Low Library, and there were loud cheers throughout the proceedings. But the silence of thousands was really touching. It happened both when the invocation was made, and when Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill played John Williams' new arrangement of "Simple Gifts."
I was proud to see my SF ladies - Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi - featured so prominently. When I was a little girl, I received some sort of reading award from the SF Public Library and as Mayor Diane Feinstein she presented us the awards at SF City Hall. That was a big day too (for me). How cool to see DiFi as MC of the proceedings today.
Cheney and Bush got some boos from the crowd. I couldn't help but think of Lionel Barrymore in "It's a Wonderful Life" when Cheney rolled out in a wheelchair.
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